🥋 Sundays with Cain – Episode 35 - A ROLL & RUMBLE Fight Co. Exclusive

Interview by “D-Man,” CTF Inmate Correspondent

Sundays With Cain 

(Painting A Path Forward) 

Talking to Cain, I recognize how my spirituality has evolved and blossomed under his teaching. He would deny that it's his doing. Probably saying something like "you would of found your true self regardless of me ever being placed here". I can't see how or who else would of made the same kind of impact. Not just on myself but all the other men who have talked to Cain, taken his breathing class, exercised with him, sweat, drummed, plumbed, walked, laughed, or learned by just watching how he treats the men that are invisible to everyone else. What I want the reader to understand is, Cain truly is one of a kind. He's a blessing to anyone that's open to change. His kind words are intertwined with confidence and knowledge. Cain is leaving prison with clear designs on what comes next. Helping people heal. I know that whoever is put into his path will be better for it. People like Jose Guzman, we call him "Junior". Cain and Junior have connected, bonded, and grown strong on a very deep level. Cain says that Jose has taught him all the traditional practices in their sweats. Has showed him how to circle with the native brothers and plan their ceremony's. Something that is new for Cain, while also being old in his spirit. Junior has helped Cain create the documents needed and acquire the space and time in the gym. Being a driving force from day one and bringing holotropic breathing to all the inmates here at the Correctional Training Facility. While also creating the documents needed to authorize healing workshops with Cain, Megan McDrew and her Empathy In Action ladies. Teaching holotropic breathing, yoga, Reiki, sound bowls, and meditation in seminars that go all day long. The picture posted here of Cain and Junior is a snapshot of their friendship. It was difficult for Junior to get up there. Once he did, Cain was not going to let him get down very quickly. After the picture was taken, Cain spun around in circles with Junior hanging on for dear life, until they almost fell down. 

Would you like to save the world from the degradation and destruction it seems destined for? Then step away from shallow mass movements and quietly go to work on your own self-awareness. - Lao Tzu, Hua Hu Ching

This will be one of our last talks. I asked you earlier this week to think about what your future looks like in ten years. This is a technique called future casting. Do you have a future cast for your self? "I thought about this and I can't give you an answer". Why? "I know this isn't the answer you want, but all I will say is this. I look forward to enjoying life. I am going to learn and I am going to give back to my community. Helping those that I can. Beyond that, I am not going to put limits or expectations on my path. I believe it has already been designed and all I am supposed to do is follow it". That makes sense, knowing how you feel about your “pathless path”. 

Let me ask you this, what do you want to accomplish in the next year? (Cain doesn't hesitant) "I want to go to my kids sporting events. Watching them compete in something that brings them joy. I want to spend quality time with each one of my kids individually. Spending time with Coral, doing father daughter time. Spending time with Cain Jr. doing father son time. Beyond that"? Yes, what does the next year's path look like (Cain smiles)? I will work at a church, or create my own church that embraces all different spiritual practices. This church will have to include traditional and native plant medicine". Does that require some sort of special permit of some kind? "Yes, it actually does. I am going to learn the exact requirements and go from there. For me, its going back to my native roots. The knowledge is there, in me. Through my ancestors I have it already in me. I just have to take back what was taken long ago. This will be how I choose to practice my religious traditions now. 

I grew up in Catholicism. A traditional Christian upbringing. The way I see it now, I feel like my most authentic form of worship is broader. I will be taking different occult philosophy, eastern philosophy, and traditional native practices. Combining the parts of each of those that resonate and allowing others an opportunity to participate in what they feel suits them. I think breathing is a great first step for people to experience a higher form of conciseness". I like the way you put that. I know my awakening has been due to the stillness I am able to achieve at the conclusion of breathing. When the music is still playing, but we are done breathing. Those ten minutes or so are where I have found my true self for the first time. I am able to explain that moment only as, enlightenment. I have slowly been able to lay there longer and longer over these last 7-8 months. At first, my mind would race. I felt a need to move, get up, open my eyes, think about life's demands. Anything but lay there and meditate. Now I'm able to finally shut all that out and let the light of my soul shine outward. What comes to me now is; peace, understanding, patience, and a sense of clarity. (Cain is looking at me like he sees me for the first time) "It is so good to hear how much you have grown. What your saying right now is proof that you have made an important step on your healing journey. I am so glad you have been able to gain that understanding. That is the exact feeling and level of understanding I seek to help others connect with". 

Would you be OK with John Brooks using Sundays With Cain as a way to send out an invite for people. People who wish to experience something amazing and transformative themselves. Inviting them to send their contact info, being put on a list of those interested in a healing seminar. Led by you, Cain, The Healer? "That would be fine. I look forward to working with people who want to learn, as soon as possible. This is what I feel my calling is leading me to. Opening up peoples hearts and minds". That's amazingly believable. Seeing the way you have connected with the men in this prison, leads me to believe your transition will be similar. You are meant to heal those that seek such a thing. 

Can we go back to your story a little bit? I'm wondering about your tattoos. What was your first one and how old were you? " I got Brown Pride on my chest first. I was eighteen. A little shop in Yuma, I can't remember the name right now". What did it mean to you when you got it? "It was a way for me to represent my heritage and what I was doing in honor of that". Did you hear people commenting about Brown Pride, being similar or contrasting to White Pride in any way? "At first, I did hear people saying things like - there is no difference between the two. Once those people got to know me to though, they would understand I was not using it as a racial division. I wear it in honor of people who look, sound, and feel like me. It's in respect, not the other way around".

What about now, has the feeling changed? How do you feel about the tattoo now? "Throughout time, I feel like it has made a much bigger difference than I was able to imagine back then. Especially being the first Mexican Heavyweight Champion in all of combat sports, let alone, the UFC. It meant a lot to a whole group of people. People who were not used to having 'their guy', win it all. Over the years, a lot of people have reached out and told me, that it made them proud". That's something worth being proud of. I see how it has been a symbol over your career. How much did it cost you, back in the day? "I paid $330. After my senior year. I knew I was going to be able to perform. Then, it was wrestling. I wanted to make a statement. I was representing the minority and I wanted them to remember who was kicking their ass". It was probably the talk of town, in Dodge City, Iowa. Let's talk about your second tattoo. What is it, when did you get it, and what did it mean to you back then? "On my side is the patron saint of Mexico, Virgin De Guadalupe. I got it at the same shop in Yuma. It was a year later than my first tattoo, I was 19. In Mexican culture, they pray to her along with Jesus. The story is that she appeared to a man named Diego on the road. The impression of her figure was left on his garment and is still there to this day. It’s a holy relic of the Mexican traditional Christian community still to this day.

There is no bigger religious idol in all of Mexico. I got it for a lot of the same reasons as Brown Pride. To honor my heritage and make a statement. I'm different than what you have seen before, I'm Mexican". What did your parents think of your ink? "They are traditional and conservative. So they didn't like tattoos in general. However, my mom is Catholic and the Virgin De Guadalupe is part of her identity. So she liked it". I'm sure she was proud of everything you did. It sounds like it was intended to be respectful to those things you found important. What does it mean to you today? “It's a reminder of who I am. It tells where I come from and connects me to my mom in a way". That makes sense. You have one more final tattoo. I know it’s more personal and less high profile than the other two. Can we talk about it? "Ya, it’s part of my story". OK, for those who don't know. You have "I DO” inked on the inside of your wrist. Can you tell us when you got it, where, and what it meant for you back then? "Michelle and I both have the same tattoo. We got it together in San Jose somewhere. It was a few years after we were already married. We had been talking about finding something we could do together. Then we decided that would be perfect". What did it mean to you then and what does it mean now? " Then, it meant that "I DO" love Michelle. Now it means "I'll always love her". She is always going to be a part of my life, "I DO" know that much”! 

I want to go over another part of your life that you wear on your skin. Your scars are numerous, but which one came first? (Cain looks at me. Looks at his hands, arms, pulls up his pant leg, and says I have too many to count.) Just try to think. First was? "I guess my chin. Where Efrain pushed me on the skateboard. But I have a bunch on my chin now and don't on exactly which one it is". (Cain lifts up his face and shows me a chin of different size and shape scars). Ok, where did the other ones come from? "I don't know. Fighting or practice I guess". What was your second scar you ever remember getting? "I had a piece of a picture frame slice my knee when I fell onto it. I was 6 or 7 years old I think. (Cain lifts his pant leg. and now I have him taking me on a stroll down memory lane). Then this one on my forehead, when I was 8. (Cain points to a smaller scar surrounded by many others, some large, on his forehead). That was from my brother as well. He pulled me into a door. I have scars all over my forehead and around my brow line, from fighting. That big one on my hair line is from a head-butt at nationals in Fargo, North Dakota". Did you win the match? "Ya, but there was blood all over the place. Then this one under my lip. (Cain points to a X looking scar centimeters below his bottom lip) In the year 2000 I was a senior in high school and threw a guy in a match. We landed an his shoulder pushed my tooth through my lip". Did you win the match? " Yup, and there was blood all over the place. Nogueira (Big Nog) gave me this nose scar (Cain pushes his nose to the side). My right index finger (From Bob Cook’s shitty wrap job in Russia). That's where surgery's start. Both shoulders are scarred, both knees, left elbow, and my back. (This is the biggest. Multiple lines, four or five inches long, and going in different directions) They also go in the front for a spinal surgery. (Cain is showing me his lower stomach) They had to pull my guts out and set them aside to get to it. Then my tongue is full of scar's. Every fight, all the time at practice, you cut your tongue. Then there is my ears (cauliflower ear) from wrestling". Those are like a badge of honor between wrestlers? "It just shows you have put a lot of time into your craft".

There is one more scar you forgot about! "There's more than one. But what’s the one you’re thinking of"? (Cain looks confused). When you tried to help that guy get help. Yelling under your cell door and standing up you split your head open on the toilet roll holder (metal pipe). That's your prison scar. " Ya, and that one". (Cain laughs. I laugh. Inside I'm sad. He is a walking shade of pain. His life has been so violent. I show him my tiny little scar on my wrist. He says, "that's it?”) That's it. 

I really appreciate you and your time, Cain. You have made me a better person and I hope you feel your story is being told the right way. We only have one more week. Let's use it to close this chapter of your story. While we can also use it to highlight a path moving forward. I have a canvas I painted black. Will you spend some time this week and paint your path on it for me? "Sure" 

That's it for this week. If you want to find out more about attending a breathing workshop with Cain sometime in the very near future, then keep your eyes open for a sign-up link. Until next week. Our last one in this saga. I hope you enjoyed everything and remember. Cain’s story is a human story. We all have a story to tell. It’s what makes us, "Us". Tell a loved one about your story, before it’s too late and you miss the chance!!!